Sharpening his attacks on Hillary and Bill Clinton, Donald Trump proclaimed Wednesday that women "don't like" the Democratic presidential front runner – and called the former president "one of the great abusers of the world."

In South Carolina for his last campaign rally of 2015, the top-polling GOP presidential contender said Hillary Clinton left him no choice.

Hillary Clinton, he told the Hilton Head gathering, has been hitting him "really hard with the women card, OK? Really hard," Politico reports.

"And I had to say, OK, that's enough. That's enough. And we did a strong number. She's not going to win."

Clinton is "horrible," Trump declared. "But I'll tell you who doesn't like Hillary are women. Women don't like Hillary. I see it all the time."

When the U.S. Border Patrol nabbed two Pakistani men with ties to terrorism at the U.S.-Mexico border in September, it marked just the latest instance of illegal immigrants from so-called “special interest countries” using the southern border as a point of entry into the country.

Muhammad Azeem and Mukhtar Ahmad, both in their 20s and from Gujrat, were caught Sept. 20 by agents south of San Diego and just over the international border from Tijuana. When agents checked their identities through databases, they got hits on both of them: Mr. Ahmad popped up as an associate of a known or suspected terrorist, while Mr. Azeem’s information had been shared by a foreign government for intelligence purposes.

Both men had been processed two months earlier by immigration officials in Panama, suggesting they took advantage of smuggling networks or other routes increasingly used by Central American illegal immigrants to sneak into the U.S.

A new California gun control law takes effect next week that will allow police, without prior warning to a gun owner, to seize their weapons if a judge decides there's a potential for violence.

The law was prompted by a 2014 mass shooting near the University of California, Santa Barbara, in which officers beforehand visited shooter Elliot Rodger's home after his parents raised alarms about his mental health — yet concluded he wasn't a risk and didn't search the apartment where he'd stashed guns, ammo and knives.

BALTIMORE —This is no holiday week on the fundraising side of politics. A deadline looms Thursday night for candidates to report how much or how little money they've raised in the last quarter.

Money certainly matters: The last couple of weeks have seen Republicans Lindsay Graham and on Tuesday, George Pataki, bow out of the presidential race. Neither of them was able to get out of the gate in fundraising.

Among the Democrats, Thursday's deadline looms large for Maryland's own Martin O'Malley, who's not been able to gain robust support in the polls or the campaign wallet.

In the third quarter of the year, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton raised $30 million. Bernie sanders raised $26 million and O'Malley just $1.3 million.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Laws taking effect at the start of the new year show states diverging on some hot-button issues.

Restrictions on carrying guns will ease in Texas, for example, but will get tighter in California. It will be easier to register to vote in Oregon, but there will be another step to take at the polls in North Carolina.

The opposing directions in the states reflect a nation with increasingly polarized politics.

In the debate over gun control, both sides say their arguments are strengthened by a string of mass shootings this year. That includes the December attack at a county health department gathering in San Bernardino, California, when a couple who investigators say pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group killed 14 people.

Everytown for Gun Safety, a group backed by billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is seeking to be a counterweight to the National Rifle Association’s lobbying of state lawmakers. Both groups are expected to be active in legislatures in the coming year.

In his weekly radio address on Maine Public Radio, LePage blasted the legislative effort as election-year politicking.

"We have vetoed Medicaid expansion five times, and we will veto it every time electioneering politicians try to bring it up," he said.

The Sun Journal reports supporters of expansion haven't been able to muster enough support to override another veto.

"As Yogi Berra said, 'It’s déjà vu all over again'," Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for the governor, tells the newspaper. "The results were disastrous for Maine when it expanded this kind of welfare in 2002, and now it’s blowing holes in state budgets around the country."

According to Bennett, Illinois, Rhode Island, Ohio, New Mexico and California were all states that saw their budgets decimated by expanding Medicaid.

"And the list keeps growing. Obamacare is crumbling because there is no such thing as free money," Bennett tells the newspaper.

Stanton, De. - The Delaware State Police responded to the Christiana Hospital Emergency Room in reference to a newborn infant who was surrendered to the hospital staff in regards to the Safe Arms for Babies Act. (DE Title 16 Sec. 907A)

Troopers contacted the hospital staff, who advised that on December 29, 2015, at approximately 9:15 a.m., a female responded to the front lobby of the Christiana Hospital located at 4755 Ogletown Stanton Road, Christiana Medical Center , Newark, and turned over a newborn infant male to the triage staff. The only information provided was that the baby was born on December 29, 2015 at approximately 7:00 a.m. No other information was obtained due to the right for the parent to remain anonymous.

The infant was immediately taken under the hospital's care and provided after birth medical treatment. There were no signs of abuse or neglect to the infant. The infant appeared to be in good health.

The hospital staff advised that the infant will stay in the hospital's care before being turned over to the custody Division of Family Services.

Any questions can be directed to Mr. Joseph Smack, spokesperson for the Division of Family Services 302-893-8930.

Greensboro, MD) – A traffic stop for impaired driving by Maryland State Police in Caroline County early this morning led to the recovery of four guns, two machetes and the arrests of two men on felony gun charges.

The accused are identified as Brady Scott, 22, of the 8600 block of Anderson Town Road in Denton, Maryland and Nicholas Garcia, 25, of the 7600 block of Rudyard Street in Falls Church, Virginia. Scott is charged with illegal possession of a firearm, three counts of second degree assault, DUI, malicious destruction of property and resisting arrest. Garcia is charged with illegal possession of a firearm. Both have been transported to Caroline County Court Commissioner’s office and are awaiting their initial appearance.

At about 1:17 a.m. this morning, troopers from the Easton Barrack received a 9-1-1 call from a motorist reporting a reckless and possibly intoxicated driver headed northbound on MD 313. The caller reported the suspect was driving a Dodge pickup truck bearing North Carolina tags.

Within minutes, a trooper accompanied by a Caroline County sheriff deputy spotted the vehicle on MD 313 at Linhard Lane. The trooper witnessed the reckless driving and stopped the truck.

As the trooper approached the driver’s side window, a very strong odor of alcohol was detected. Further investigation led troopers to the arrest of Scott for suspected impaired driving.

When troopers attempted to handcuff Scott, he resisted arrest and pulled away while cursing, spitting and assaulting police. Once Scott was successfully handcuffed, he was transported to the Easton Barrack for processing.

Garcia, while still inside the pickup, asked troopers to exit the vehicle. Upon his exit, troopers observed a pistol protruding from under the seat. Troopers immediately placed Garcia into police custody. A further search of the vehicle revealed three loaded handguns, one unloaded pump-action shotgun with boxes of ammunition and two machetes.

Maryland State Police from the Easton Barrack responded to the incident. Sheriff deputies from the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office and officers from the Denton Police Department also responded to assist.

(Elkridge, MD) A Maryland State Trooper sustains injuries after his patrol car was rear ended by a passing motorist while assisting a disabled motorist this afternoon.

The trooper is identified as Trooper Tristen Phillip, 27, assigned to patrol duties at the Waterloo Barrack. He has been a member of the Maryland State Police for two years. Trooper Phillip was inside his marked patrol car on the right shoulder of southbound I-95 assisting a family with their disabled vehicle.

The driver who struck Trooper Phillip’s vehicle is identified as Rodney Irons, Jr., 31, of the 10,000 block of Inwood Avenue in Silver Spring. Irons was driving a black Dodge Stratus. Upon further investigation, troopers on the scene discovered Irons was driving without a driver’s license. Irons was transported by ambulance to Howard County General Hospital. Charges are pending.

The passengers in the disabled vehicle are identified as Ellen Pell, 72, the driver and Melvin Pell, 73, the front seat passenger. Mr. and Mrs. Pell, of Wilmington Delaware were the only the occupants in the disabled vehicle and refused medical treatment on scene.

The Maryland State Police Crash Team is conducting the investigation on this incident. The preliminary investigation indicates that shortly after 1:30 p.m. today, Trooper Phillip was dispatched to assist a disabled motorist on the right shoulder of southbound I-95, north of Route 100 in Howard County.

Trooper Phillip was operating a marked State Police patrol car and was parked on the shoulder with his emergency lights activated. He was on the scene for approximately an hour before Irons veered off I-95, onto the right shoulder, striking Trooper Phillip’s patrol car from behind. A chain reaction occurred resulting in the trooper’s patrol car striking the disabled vehicle.

Trooper Phillip was transported by ambulance to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center for treatment. Irons was taken to Howard County General Hospital by ambulance.

Troopers from the Waterloo Barrack responded to the scene. State Highway Administration was on scene assisting with lane closures. The Maryland State Police Crash Team investigation is continuing. Charges have not been filed at this time

As the nation prepares to ring in the New Year, President Barack Obama is preparing a colossal new executive action that could print-up work permits for a huge number of foreign white-collar graduates every year, above and beyond the levels set by Congress.

This executive action, which directly bypasses Congressional lawmakers, is likely to reverberate across the presidential race, as GOP voters look to choose a nominee they believe will most effectively roll back the President’s still-expanding agenda. And it will certainly raise new security concerns as it covers categories of immigration utilized by migrants from the Middle East and nearby regions.

President Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security plans to publish the proposed rule tomorrow, the last day of 2015.

The 181-page rule focuses primarily on giving work-permits to foreign college-grads who will compete against Americans for white collar jobs, despite the large number of American graduates now stuck in lower-wage positions and struggling to pay off college debts. The rule will also make each foreign graduate much cheaper for U.S. employers to hire than many U.S.-born college grads.

Three-quarters of U.S. high school students who use heroin first tried narcotic painkillers, a new survey reveals.

Survey results from nearly 68,000 high school seniors provide some clues to heroin's recent deadly path from the inner city into affluent suburbs and rural communities.

"The more times a teen uses non-prescribed painkiller pills, the greater the risk he or she is at for becoming dependent on the drug," said lead researcher Joseph Palamar, an assistant professor of population health at New York University.

"People who become dependent on painkiller pills often wind up resorting to heroin use because it's cheaper and more available than these pills," Palamar explained.

And white students appear more likely than blacks or Hispanics to travel this route, the research suggests.

More than 12 percent of the high school seniors reported using narcotic painkillers such as Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin. And 1.2 percent reported using heroin, the researchers said.

Recent and frequent nonmedical painkiller use increased the odds that kids had tried heroin: More than 77 percent of teens who reported using heroin had also used narcotic painkillers, also called opioids, Palamar said.

2015 was an interesting year for Maryland. There were several top news stories, the most influential definitely being the Freddie Gray case. There were also unusual things that happened as a result of the Baltimore unrest, as well as weird news stories from all around the state. Today we’re looking back at some of the most insane things that happened in Maryland in 2015.

The Solid Waste Division of Worcester County will host its annual collection of Christmas trees through Jan. 15, 2016. Trees can be dropped off at the Central Landfill in Newark and the Berlin, Pocomoke and Snow Hill Homeowners Convenience Centers at no cost to area residents only. “Despite the future closing of the Berlin HOCC for yard waste on January 1,” we will still be providing containers at that site and the Pocomoke HOCC for Christmas Tree Recycling,” Public Works Director John Tustin said. “Citizens may bring their trees to the HOCC for disposal until Jan. 15.”Snow Hill area residents may dispose of their trees at the Central Landfill. Businesses and organizations that sold trees will not be permitted to drop off trees at the convenience centers, but may take them to the Central Landfill where applicable tipping fees will be assessed.The trees will be ground into mulch for use at the Central Landfill. Remember, you can make a difference by recycling!For more info, contact Recycling Manager Ron Taylor at 410-632-3177.

MARION STATION, Md. (AP) — Maryland State Police have charged the treasurer of a Marion Station church with stealing nearly $17,000 worth of funds from the congregation.

Police said in a news release Thursday that 34-year-old James Franklin Powell faces several criminal charges, including embezzlement, theft and theft scheme in connection with an investigation started last month.

Authorities say Powell, who is the church treasurer at Quindocqua United Methodist Church, wrote several fraudulent checks from the church account over a period of time beginning in 2004. Police say Powell initially denied writing the checks, but later admitted to writing them when he was seen on surveillance video writing the checks.

Pastor Charles Jacobson says Powell will remain a member of the church, but will not work in an official capacity at the church

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (WUSA9) -- Officials are concerned one of the nation's deadliest gangs is beginning to resurge in two Maryland Counties.

In 2009, the FBI identified at least three MS 13 “cliques” operating in Montgomery and Prince George's County, but Montgomery's top prosecutor say the gang was losing their hold.

"There was a massive federal prosecution that occurred about three or four years ago, in coordination with my office and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s. Forty-two members of MS 13 got very, very long prison sentences…That effectively cut the head off of that gang,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney, John McCarthy, explained.

Now, McCarthy said they're back, committing at least five homicides in the county this year, and recruiting harder than ever.

“The numbers have grown and the intelligence that has been shared with me tells me the problem is even broader and wider than I even imagined,” McCarthy said.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s prison agency said Wednesday it has suspended one facility’s program allowing inmates to prepare rescued pets for adoption after a prison worker and an inmate were bitten by dogs in separate incidents in recent months.

The civilian worker required stitches for a bite in the face, and the inmate suffered a puncture wound to his hand, a spokesman said.

The suspension of the Prison Pets program at the medium-security Maryland Correctional Training Center near Hagerstown does not affect animal-centered programs at nine other Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services institutions, including two programs similar to Prison Pets, spokesman Robert Thomas said. Most of the other programs involve inmates training service dogs.

Thomas said the Prison Pets program was launched at the 180-bed prison with good intentions but without higher approval of any guidelines or agreements with the animal shelters that supplied the dogs and cats, which otherwise would have been euthanized.

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, a Christian nation, land of the free and home of the brave.

How may I help you?Press '1' for English.Press '2' to disconnect until you learn to speak EnglishAnd remember only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus ChristAnd the American Soldier.One died for your soul,The other for your freedom.

**Update as of 1:10 p.m., Mary Marasa has been located in Ocean City, MD in good condition. The Gold Alert has been canceled.**

Millsboro-The Delaware State Police are issuing a Gold Alert for Mary L. Marasa of Millsboro who was last heard from around 11:30 p.m., Wednesday December 30, 2015 after she telephoned a relative in Georgia and advised she may be lost in Ocean City, Maryland.

Troopers have been unable to make contact with Mary to check on his welfare. Attempts to locate her have been unsuccessful and there is a real concern for her safety and welfare. She may be operating a silver 2015 Dodge Dart with Delaware registration 342117 (Photo attached of similar vehicle - not the actual vehicle). Mary was driving home to her residence located in the 31000 block of Crepe Myrtle Drive, from Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) alone when she may have gotten lost.

If anyone has any information in reference to his whereabouts, they are asked to contact Troop 4 at 302-856-5850 or by contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333 or via the internet atwww.delaware.crimestoppersweb.com. Anonymous tips may be sent by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."

Another day, another fake hate crime. On Christmas Day, a Houston mosque was torched. At the time, the authorities said it looked suspicious. Well, it was… a devout Muslim was caught on video setting the blaze. The Jihadist is Gary Nathaniel Moore, who went to the mosque several times a day to pray to Allah. The cries of ‘hate crime’ quickly followed. Just like they did in Vegas when a man wrapped yummy bacon around the door handles of a mosque. The same thing happened in Oklahoma. Both are being treated as hate crimes. Put down the pork and back away! Seriously, this is just nuts. There have been other fake attacks on mosques across the nation as well… supposedly to garner sympathy for Muslims after major terrorist attacks take place. However, this follower of Mohammad was filmed doing the deed. Oops.

From Gateway Pundit:

A Houston mosque was torched on Christmas Day.

On Tuesday a devout Muslim attendee was charged with setting the blaze.

Gary Nathaniel Moore, a very devout follower of Mohammad, started the blaze.

Moore told investigators that he had attended the mosque for five years, visiting it five times a day to pray, seven days a week. That’s devotion. He admitted to being at the mosque on Christmas Day to pray and said he left around 2 pm to go home. Moore said he was the last to leave. He then claims he returned to the scene after a friend told him about the fire. Using surveillance video from multiple businesses nearby, investigators were able to identify Moore. A search warrant of his home was conducted and investigators recovered a backpack and clothing that seemingly matched what was seen in surveillance footage, as well as one half of a two-pack of charcoal lighter fluid bottles that seemed to match another lighter fluid bottle found inside the mosque. Bond for Moore has been set at $100,000. He’s going to need one heck of a lawyer and I’m sure his one phone call went straight to CAIR.

I will not be shooting any Black Panthers this week because I am Kwanza-reform, and we are not that observant. Kwanzaa, celebrated exclusively by white liberals, is a fake holiday invented in 1966 by black radical/FBI stooge Ron Everett — aka Dr. Maulana Karenga, founder of United Slaves, the violent nationalist rival to the Black Panthers. In the annals of the American ’60s, Karenga was the Father Gapon, stooge of the czarist police.

In what was ultimately a foolish gambit, during the madness of the ’60s, the FBI encouraged the most extreme black nationalist organizations in order to discredit and split the left. The more preposterous the group, the better. By that criterion, Karenga’s United Slaves was perfect.

Despite modern perceptions that blend all the black activists of the ’60s, the Black Panthers did not hate whites. Although some of their most high-profile leaders were drug dealers and murderers, they did not seek armed revolution.

Those were the precepts of Karenga’s United Slaves. The United Slaves were proto-fascists, walking around in dashikis, gunning down Black Panthers and adopting invented “African” names.

And hasn’t that been a huge help to the black community?

It’s as if David Duke invented a holiday called “Anglika,” which he based on the philosophy of “Mein Kampf” — and clueless public school teachers began celebrating the made-up, racist holiday.

Whether Karenga was a willing FBI dupe, or just a dupe, remains unclear.

Remember that thing called “religious freedom” that this country was founded on? Yeah, apparently it doesn’t exist anymore.

The Fontbonne Academy, a Catholic Girls Preparatory School, has just earned a place in American history. This past week a Massachusetts court decided that religious institutions like Fontbonne had no right to “discriminate” against homosexuals by choosing not to hire them. The court said that the religious freedom of those attending the Fontbonne Academy was not as important as the “right” of a homosexual to work for the school.

From Buzzfeed:

As to the constitutional claim, the school argued that its expressive association rights would be infringed if forced to hire Barrett. The court, however, found that the school failed to meet two of the three standards set by the Supreme Court for such claims in its 2000 decision regarding the Boy Scouts. Although the academy does engage in “at least some form of expression,” meeting the first standard, the court found that there is “minimal risk” that Barrett’s hire would “significantly and seriously burden [Fontbonne’s] expression.”

… The liberal Massachusetts Court went well out of its way to contort, twist and destroy both the 1st Amendment and the various Supreme Court rulings on the same subject. It is beyond the pale to force a Christian school (or any religious institution for that matter) to act contrary to their religious beliefs when those beliefs do not infringe upon the rights or lives of others. The complainant felt he was discriminated against because he lost a job opportunity after the Catholic school learned of his homosexuality, but the truth is that he was free to find work anywhere. The Fontbonne Academy is now simply another example of a tyrannical activist government forcing its views on to a supposedly free people. The First Amendment means nothing to the court in Massachusetts, and it also obviously means nothing to the liberals who are now applauding this decision.

OCEAN CITY, MD – : An Ocean City man was recently arrested for two area burglaries in addition to charges stemming from several marijuana plants being found in his home during his arrest.

On December 23, 2015, at approximately 1:50 p.m. Ocean City Police responded to a restaurant in the area of Jamestown Road and Coastal Highway for a report of a burglary that had already occurred. Video surveillance showed that a man had broken into a cooler in the rear of the restaurant several hours earlier and had stolen alcohol, energy drinks and meat. Through investigation, officers were able to identify the suspect as Thomas D. Palenchar, 40, of Ocean City. A warrant was issued for his arrest on December 24.

On December 24, at approximately 8:30 a.m. Ocean City police responded to a Jewish center located in the area of 137th Street and Coastal Highway for another report of a burglary. The suspect broke a window, entered the building, damaged and stole numerous religious items.

Later that day at approximately 1 p.m., officers responded to a home on Captain Quarters Road to serve a warrant on Palenchar for the restaurant burglary. When officers arrived, they noticed numerous items stolen from the Jewish center in the home. Also in the home were over 35 marijuana plants and marijuana that had previously been harvested.

Police have charged Palenchar with second degree burglary, two counts of fourth degree burglary, theft of greater than $1,000, two counts of theft less than $1,000, malicious destruction of property, manufacturing a controlled dangerous substance, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana. He was seen by a Maryland District Court Commissioner and was transferred to the Worcester County Jail on $100,000 bond.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ran headlong into the leftist meat grinder by questioning whether college admission of blacks with academic achievement levels significantly lower than the rest of the student body is beneficial to blacks. His question came up during oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas, wherein the court will rule whether the use of race in college admission decisions violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of “equal protection of the laws” to all citizens.

Justice Scalia’s questions generated news headlines such as “Justice Scalia Suggests Blacks Belong at ‘Slower’ Colleges,” “Scalia questions place of some black students in elite colleges” and “Scalia and the misguided ‘mismatch’ theory.” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said, “It is deeply disturbing to hear a Supreme Court justice endorse racist ideas from the bench of the nation’s highest court.”

The issue for black parents is not whether their sons and daughters should be admitted to an elite college or one that is lower-ranked. The issue is whether their sons and daughters should be admitted to a college where they would not be admitted if they were white. The question for black parents and black people is: Which better serves our interests, a black student’s being admitted to an elite college and winding up in the bottom of his class or flunking out or a black student’s being admitted to a less prestigious college and performing just as well as his white peers? I would opt for a black student’s doing well and graduating from a less prestigious college.

Think of it this way. Suppose you asked, “Williams, would you teach my son how to box?” I say yes, and after your son wins a few amateur matches, I set him up with a match against an elite boxer like Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis. Your son may have the potential to be a world-class boxer, but he is going to get his brains beaten out and have his career ended before he learns how to bob and weave.

It’s the same with any student — black or white. Pupils are less likely to succeed if they are placed in a fast-paced academic environment where their academic achievement levels do not begin to match those of their peers. Such students would have a greater chance of success in a slower-paced, less competitive environment, one more in tune with their preparation and where they might receive more personal help.

Younger voters are emerging as the most volatile as both parties prepare for what could be a generational showdown in next year’s general election.

Depending on the specific matchups, voters give the Democratic presidential nominee as much as three-quarters of the youth vote, or as little as 37 percent, according to polling over the past six months that underscores just how unsettled the election is within the emerging generation of voters.

Hispanics are also living up to their reputation as swing voters, with a 30 percent variation in their voting preferences between a Democrat and a Republican, according to a Washington Times analysis of recent polling.

More broadly, women are more settled as a voting group than men, and voters in the South, who lean Republican more than those in the rest of the country, are less of a swing group than elsewhere. Voters making less than $50,000 a year are more of a swing group than those with higher incomes, the analysis found.

Without any “soccer moms” or “NASCAR dads” — groups that pollsters identified in previous elections as key swing constituencies — the major battlegrounds now appear to be the same groups as in the past: self-identified independents, Hispanics and younger voters.

“The younger, 18- to 34-year-old voters could be one of the tipping points,” said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. “Do they turn out for the Democrat in the way they did Obama in 2008 or even 2012, or do they yawn? They seemed to break late in 2012.”

Mr. Yepsen said his students are turned off by politics and by the negativity of the debate, and are less enthused than their elder siblings in 2008.

A shocking move that allowed members of The H-2 guest worker program has been revealed by Buzzfeed. Keep in mind, this is a program that is SUPPOSED to make it so that Americans keep working – not employing foreign born workers and forcing citizens to the unemployment line:

The H-2 guest worker program, which brought in 150,000 legal foreign workers last year, isn’t supposed to deprive any American of a job. But many businesses go to extraordinary lengths to deny jobs to U.S. workers so they can hire foreigners instead. A BuzzFeed News investigation.

“All you black American people, f*ck you all…just go to the office and pick up your check,” the supervisor at Hamilton Growers told workers during a mass layoff in June 2009.

The following season, according to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, about 80 workers, many of them black, were simply told: “All you Americans are fired.”

Year after year, Hamilton Growers, which has supplied squash, cucumbers, and other produce to Wal-Mart and the Green Giant brand, hired scores of Americans, only to cast off many of them within weeks, according to the U.S. government. And time after time, the grower filled the jobs with foreign guest workers instead.

Although Hamilton Growers eventually agreed to pay half a million dollars to settle the suit, company officials said the allegations are baseless. Mass firings never happened, they said, nor did anyone use racially inflammatory language. But workers tell a different story.

The number of primary school-aged children, some as young as four, beginning to “transition” their gender is rising rapidly in the UK. The popularity of the fad appears to be clustered, with children copying others in the same schools.

Up to 80 primary school-aged children a year are now seeking help towards potentially changing their gender, the chair of Mermaids, a charity which lobbies for families who believe their children and teenagers are transgendered, has revealed.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Susie Green said that, in some cases, British children as young as four are already in the process of “transitioning” to another sex.

She also described how her organisation has observed a cluster effect across the country, with children following one and another in the same school; a school where there might be a teacher who promotes transgender ideology.

White House contender Sen. Ted Cruz is laying out a first-day Oval Office agenda to unravel the Obama presidency – by ripping up the Iran deal, moving the Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, scrapping the president's executive actions, investigating Planned Parenthood and ending the "persecution of religious liberty."

Writing the epilogue for his preacher dad Rafael Cruz's new book, "A Time for Action," the Texas lawmaker, who's surged to No. 2 in national polling averages in his GOP presidential nomination bid, makes the case for an aggressive first day if elected, the Washington Examiner reports.

"The left, and the media (who are in cahoots), try to convince us that nothing can change," Cruz writes in an excerpt posted by the Examiner.

"They want us to give up. But strong presidential leadership, backed by the American people, can usher in dramatic change."

The to-do list includes top priorities Cruz has championed previously.

But he also lays out a short term goal to press even further, the Examiner reports, including:

Repealing Obamacare; Expanding school choice; Moving to "rebuild our military" and to further reforms at the Veterans Administration; Hitting ISIS with more force; and Ending the sanctuary city system that protects illegal immigrants who are wanted by federal authorities.

"Our country is in crisis," Cruz writes. "I am convinced, it is now or never. There comes a point where the hole is too deep, the debt is too great, our liberties are too receded, and there is no going back."

OCEAN CITY — More than 350 people packed the Temple Bat Yam synagogue this week to say goodbye to distinguished businessman and beloved community leader Hal Glick, who passed away on Dec. 24.

Glick, 74, ended his courageous battle with cancer on Christmas Eve with his loving family at his side and leaves behind a lasting legacy in the region as both a businessman and a humanitarian.

“He was a mentor to so many people, and best friend to so many people,” said longtime friend Jeff Thaler. “Hal Glick’s name will live forever in Ocean City.”

Born in Onancock, Va. in 1941 to a family that owned a small retail business, Glick quickly showed business prowess of his own after graduating from Randolph Macon Military Academy in 1960 and the University of Maryland’s Business School in 1965. He opened a fine men’s clothing store in Salisbury in 1967 and later a unisex hair salon in 1975.

Yet, Glick’s business career will likely be remembered most in the real estate industry, as he joined Bruce Moore and Robert Warfield as the company’s 12th associate in 1979 and in 1983, he was made partner, creating the well-known Moore, Warfield and Glick, Inc. Realtors.

According to TMZ, Jenner’s insurance company paid the settlement to Jessica Steindorff for personal injury and property damage.

In February, the Olympic gold medalist rear-ended 69-year-old widow Kim Howe, pushing her into traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., where she hit a Hummer and was killed. Jenner crashed into Steindorff after hitting Howe.

In an attempt to prevent the chaos of the immigrant border surge that occurred in the summer of 2014, Department of Homeland Security officials are securing various locations to temporarily house Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) and family units from Central America. As a result of that effort, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has directed Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico to house up to 400 children starting in January.

According to the Associated Press, the children are currently in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families. The protocol is for these children to remain in this holding pattern until a family member in the U.S. can be located for their release. If no family member can be located, the children are placed in the foster care system.

Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce President Mike Espiritu told the AP that health department officials have already visited Holloman to see if the site could work.

Jim Brown is widely considered to be the greatest running back in NFL history. Brown played fullback for the Cleveland Browns for nine years, between 1957 to 1965, and held numerous records during his career. Sporting News voted Brown the greatest professional football player to ever play the game. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

Following the grand jury decision to not charge either officer in the death of Tamir Brown, who was shot in Cleveland last year, black activists on Twitter started a #NoJusticeNoLebron campaign in an attempt to get Lebron James, star forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, to stage a sit-in and refuse to play basketball until the Department of Justice “arrests the murderers of Tamir Rice.”

If you read Stephen Moore’s column, he noted how the consensus over oil is wrong. We’re not running out of oil. In fact, many have been saying we’re going to run out since the 1930s:

These stupid predictions of the end of oil have been going on for most of the last century. Just over 100 years ago, the U.S. Bureau of Mines estimated total future production at 6 billion barrels, yet we've produced more than 20times that amount. In 1939 the Department of the Interior predicted U.S. oil supplies would last 13 years. I could go on.

[…]

The folks at the Institute for Energy Research recently published a study showing three data points: first, the government's best estimate of how much oil we had in America 50 years ago. The second was how much U.S. oil has been drilled out of the ground since then. And the third is how many reserves there are now. Today we have twice as many reserves as we had in 1950. And we have already produced almost 10 times more oil than the government told us we had back then.

Carrico said, “If he’s so afraid of guns, then I’m not going to surround him with armed state policemen.”

McAuliffe has pushed numerous gun controls as governor and, in August, infamously pushed for expanding background checks after Virginia reporter Alison Parker had been shot on air. McAuliffe made the push for expanded background checks before the gunman who killed Parker had been caught and, therefore, before he had any knowledge of how the gunman acquired his gun. As it turned out, gunman Vester Lee Flanagan acquired his gun via a background check.

Moreover, on October 15, McAuliffe issued an executive order banning the open carry of firearms in state buildings used by the Virginia executive branch and calling for enforcement to ensure that the only people “in the business” of selling guns in Virginia are those with a Federal Firearm License (FFL).

Senator Carrico is responding to these things—and more—by trying to be sure McAuliffe does not have to be around guns at all if they bother him so much.

On Twitter, Donald Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner, lashed out at Hillary Clinton, directly attacking her husband, the former president, for what Trump called “his terrible record of women abuse.”

Trump is obviously referring to the sexual allegations that have long swirled around Clinton, even before he became president. We’d earlier explored this question in 2014 when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wrongly claimed that a half dozen women had called Clinton a “sexual predator.” But for younger voters who may be wondering what the fuss is about, here again is a guide to the various claims made about Clinton’s sex life.

We will divide the stories into two parts: consensual liaisons admitted by the women in question and allegations of an unwanted sexual encounter.

Michael Cutler, a former Immigration and Naturalization Service agent, tells Newsmax TV the recent announcement that Homeland Security will be deporting illegal aliens is a "publicity stunt" aimed at actually preventing such deportations.

"You know, I've come to call DHS the Department of Homeland Surrender," Cutler told "The Hard Line" guest host Dennis Michael Lynch. "This administration has been all about creating false illusions-- the way they count deportations for example. They include aliens who simply turn around when denied entry at ports of entry or where a border patrol simply turns them back. They're counting those as deportations."

Individual agents are supposed to be allowed to make arrests, but many have faced consequences for doing so without the Obama administration's OK, he said.

"Here's the better question: Why are they announcing their intentions before the fact?" Cutler asked. "I've never known of a law enforcement agency that's going to go out there and say in advance, 'We're coming for you.' And if you look at the timing, Christmas, you want to talk about the Grinch who stole Christmas? This is about playing up this 'My God if we enforce the law, think how terrible this is.'"

Hollywood liberals are some of the most rabid and ill-informed leftists on the planet, and another one has come out, to prove just that. This time it’s Samuel L Jackson – you know – the black guy that’s in 90% of the movies made in the last 20 years.

In an interview with Hollywood reporter.com, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/awards-chatter-podcast-samuel-l-851131Jackson demonstrates thatHollywood liberals are some of the most ill-informed members of our society. They blindly embrace every feel-good scam and sign on to every leftist campaign imaginable. Oh they, for the most part, don’t actually do anything, but lending their name to a cause, like showing up for a photo op, is as good as doing something – isn’t it?

In the interview, the topics ranged from politics, to race, the police and terrorism – all of which show just how uninformed he is, although to the set who normally readsHollywood reporter.com, I’m sure he sounds like a well-rounded genius.

Jackson is no different then most liberals – he paints with a selective broad brush. Regarding the police, he tells the interviewer that soldiers came back from Vietnamand became cops. He said: “In the sixties or whatever, guys went to Vietnam, and they came home and people hated them; they were ‘baby killers’ or whatever, and a lot of them became cops ’cause that was the job. But now it’s kids coming back fromIraq and Afghanistan, and now they’ve identified PTSD – but that’s not one of the tests they give for people who put on the uniform. So, consequently, you’ve got people out there who are used to looking at people as the enemy, cause that’s what it was – people were trying to kill them every day. It was like, oh my God – you see a guy, the guy jumps up, Hold it! And young black men are threatening, so you know, and it just happens.”

The Islamic Center of Greater Kansas City has received $2,739,891 from the Department of Agriculture since 2010

A Kansas City mosque owned by an Islamic umbrella organization with deep ties to the U.S. arm of the Muslim Brotherhood has received millions of dollars in federal grants over the past several years, according to a federal spending database.

The Islamic Center of Greater Kansas City has received $2,739,891 from the Department of Agriculture since 2010, a Daily Caller analysis has found. The money largely went to the mosque’s Crescent Clinic to provide services through the Women, Infant and Children nutrition program, known as WIC.

The most recent federal payment — in the amount of $327,436 — was handed out Oct. 1.

Property records show the mosque is owned by the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), which acts as a financial holding company for Islamic organizations. It offers sharia-compliant financial products to Muslim investors, operates Islamic schools and owns more than 300 other mosques throughout the U.S.

Animal welfare advocates got major traction this year pushing for cage-free eggs.

In September, McDonald's pledged it would move to 100-percent cage-free eggs in its supply chain. And while the movement was already underway, this announcement seemed to really set off a domino effect.

Some of the biggest egg producers in the U.S., including Rembrandt Foods, pledged allegiance to cage-free. Packaged good behemoths like Nestle and fast food chains like Subway did as well. (See the list of companies below.)

"I can't think of a social issue that food companies rallied around more in 2015 than chicken confinement," says Matthew Prescott, food policy director for the Humane Society of the United States, which has long been egging on producers and buyers to go cage-free.

Fifty churches throughout the U.S. have said they will shelter illegal immigrants seeking sanctuary from upcoming raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Sanctuary movement, a political and religious group that works to protect those who illegally entered the U.S. to escape violence and economic instability in Central America, said over the weekend that its network of congregations will welcome any individual who fears he or she will be re-targeted for deportation.

The announcement came after a report that the Department of Homeland Security's immigration wing ICE was planning a January crackdown on individuals who had previously evaded deportation.

For the premiere episode of Season 7, Jerry takes President Barack Obama for a spin in a 1963 Corvette Stingray Split Window Coupe but finds it hard to spirit the leader of the free world off the White House grounds.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mother of fugitive Texas teen Ethan Couch, known for using an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving accident, has been returned to the U.S. from Mexico minus her son, whose own deportation was delayed by a Mexican judge.

Tonya Couch arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on a flight from Mexico in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and was taken in handcuffs through the terminal to an unmarked Dodge Charger early Thursday morning. She was wearing blue street clothes and looked away from cameras as she walked, flanked by two marshals.

It was unclear why she was brought to Los Angeles instead of Texas, where she and her son live and where he was on probation for the 2013 drunken-driving crash. U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Eugene Hwang said he could not reveal any details about her trip through California or say how long she might remain here, citing security concerns in transporting someone in custody.

Join the Town of Berlin for its annual New Year’s Eve Ball Drop. The event starts at 10:00 p.m. with DJ Big Al Reno and MC Dave Miller to entertain you with music, comedy and trivia questions for chances to win some great prizes from our local merchants. Rosenfeld’s food truck, Crush and Crab, Eastern Shore Kettle Korn and Main Street Deli will be on hand to fill your belly. Main Street from West Street to Jefferson Street will be closed to traffic beginning at 5:00 p.m.

In Harold Ramis’ classic 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, TV weatherman Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) is forced to live the same day over and over again until he not only gains some insight into his life but changes his priorities. Similarly, as I illustrate in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we in the emerging American police state find ourselves reliving the same set of circumstances over and over again—egregious surveillance, strip searches, police shootings of unarmed citizens, government spying, the criminalization of lawful activities, warmongering, etc.—although with far fewer moments of comic hilarity.

What remains to be seen is whether 2016 will bring more of the same or whether “we the people” will wake up from our somnambulant states. Indeed, when it comes to civil liberties and freedom, 2015 was far from a banner year.

The following is just a sampling of what we can look forward to repeating if we don’t find some way to push back against the menace of an overreaching, aggressive, invasive, militarized surveillance state.

New Year’s Eve revelers who like the idea of celebrating in New York City’s Times Square, but who don’t so much love the thought of trying to find a public bathroom while surrounded by thousands of drunken strangers, might be interested in settling in at a dining spot close to the action: equipped with toilets, heat, and food, restaurants provide a few more comforts than camping outside all day. But does anyone want to pay $400 for dinner at Olive Garden, just because it’s New Year’s Eve?

Ten years ago, Congress passed the REAL ID Act, which set minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and photo IDs. While the rules haven’t exactly been enforced to the “T” by the Dept. of Homeland Security, that’s poised to change, leaving millions of people in nine states in need of a second form of ID to pass through airport security.

The New York Times reports that while several of these states have been granted extensions, effectively delaying any application of requirements for a period of time, those deadlines are fast approaching, and the government apparently isn’t keen on providing new extensions.

The requirements under the Act have been hotly debated in many states, with some claiming the law violates consumers’ privacy, even passing laws barring motor vehicle departments from complying with the law.

The Muslims asked the Christian men, “I am Muslim, what are you?” before beating the men

A group of Christian men was jumped outside a club in Berlin on Christmas Eve.

”I am muslim. What are you?” After asking this question, muslims beat on Christians at Berlin Mitte on the second day of Christmas, on Potsdam Platz.

At least five injured men are the result of a fight on early Sunday evening in Berlin-Tiergarten. The police are still investigating, But what they know so far is that five men, after leaving the Club “Adagio” at 17:20 on the Marlene-Dietrich-Plaza, were accosted by a man and asked about their religion. The police report said that the unknown man said, “I am muslim! What are you?” The question resulted in a verbal shouting match. Suddenly more people arrived on the scene and together with the unknown muslim they started beating on the men aged 20, 24, and 25.

A 19-year-old man who tried to calm the men down, was injured in the face. Right before the police arrived, the perpetrators fled the scene. The injured young men did not wish for medical treatment on the spot and said they were going to go to the clinic themselves. According to police, the young men that were attacked come from Serbia and Montenegro and are Orthodox Christians.

The Rural Maryland Council met on Wednesday Dec. 2, 2015 in Annapolis and elected officers for the 2016 calendar year. The council elected the following officers:

• Chairman: Doris Mason

• First Vice Chairman: Josh Hastings

• Second Vice Chairman: Matt Teffeau

Doris Mason currently serves as the executive director of the Upper Shore Regional Council where she provides leadership on key projects for the USRC as it partners with public and private entities to optimize the physical, economic and social well-being of the residents of Cecil, Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties.

“I am looking forward to serving the residents of Rural Maryland and am excited for this opportunity,” said Mason. “We plan to focus our leadership towards enhancing our state’s investments in our rural areas through the Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund, so that our rural regions can grow economically to be the prosperous places we know they can be.”

Josh Hastings currently serves as policy director for the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy where he monitors land use policies at the local, state, and federal government levels.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Maryland's prison agency says it's no longer allowing inmates to raise rescued pets for adoption after one of the dogs bit two inmates and a correctional officer.

Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services spokesman Robert Thomas told The Herald-Mail Tuesday that the program at the medium-security Maryland Correctional Training Center near Hagerstown has been curtailed.

The 18-month-old program allowed inmates to care for cats and dogs from area animal shelters. Proponents say it saved scores of animals from euthanasia.

(Reuters Health) – Almost all people who overdose on prescription opioids continue to receive prescriptions for these painkillers, according to a new study.

“We found the results both surprising and concerning,” said lead author Dr. Marc R. Larochelle of Boston Medical Center.

“While this study wasn't designed to answer why, one possibility is that providers are not aware that their patients experienced an overdose when making the decision to continue prescribing opioids,” Larochelle told Reuters Health by email. “This lack of knowledge may be a symptom of our fragmented health care system where there is no clear mechanism to communicate events from emergency department or inpatient settings to providers in the community.”

The researchers used Optum, a national commercial insurance claims database, to identify almost 3,000 patients who experienced a nonfatal overdose between 2000 and 2012 while taking long-term opioids prescribed for chronic pain not related to cancer. Opioids include drugs like codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and tramadol.

Just over 90% of these patients continued to receive prescription opioids after the overdose. More than half got the prescription from the same doctor.

Be careful what you ask for Brooks! You just might get it!! Hahaha!!! Priceless!! I love a good prank.  #parentsoftheyear #santaaintgotnothingonus 
Posted by Alison Carroll on Friday, December 25, 2015

“There never has been a more important time to stand for and with Planned Parenthood,” Jill Lafer, the chair of Planned Parenthood, and Cecile Richards the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, wrote in an opening letter. “We are at a critical moment in our history. Over the past several months, we have been tested in every way imaginable — and have emerged stronger than ever.”

The report states that “In the pages that follow, we present highlights from a year filled with achievements and breakthroughs.”

“Abortion” is listed in the report as one of the organization’s “Top Achievements” in 2014.